Destiny Norton is 5 years old and has been missing for 5 days - why no...

[helderheid]

National coverage? Is it because her family is poor?

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4080857

http://www.abc4.com/local_news/local_headlines/story.aspx?content_id=E9FF4F33-4300-4F52-8FCD-398DA6641575

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=372972



Has anyone here heard about her on the news? I have only heard her mentioned on our local TV news, not national.

[China_cat]

1. Not a word.

[NVMojo]

10. National Media Ignore Destiny Norton story ...news clip from today

National Media Ignore Destiny Norton Story
July 21st, 2006 @ 5:59pm

John Daley Reporting

The search for Destiny Norton has generated plenty of local coverage on TV, radio, in the newspapers and on the internet.

But unlike some similar Utah cases in recent years, so far the national news outlets have ignored the story.

This search is drawing a lot of local coverage, but so far we're not seeing any satellite trucks or reporters for national networks. The only clear reason is they're focusing on other stories--one in particular.

A five-year-old girl disappears without a trace, and a community searches. Among the apparent mysteries is why, so far, the national media have stayed away.

Jeannie Hill/ Friend, Search Coordinator: "It is a little frustrating, especially since the fact that we haven't found her yet. It should have national attention. It should."

The kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart drew blanket coverage in 2002, though in that case her younger sister actually witnessed a man taking the girl.

more...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=374258
-----------------------------------------------
EDIT: COPYRIGHT. PLEASE POST ONLY 4 OR 5
PARAGRAPHS FROM THE COPYRIGHTED NEWS SOURCE
PER DU RULES.

[helderheid]

13. thank you for posting that - I'd not seen it.

[SlipperySlope]

2. Because Natalee Holloway hasn't been found yet.

It is a very strict queue, no attention for new lost girls until the old is discovered :-(

[xultar]

3. Cuz it didn't happen in Aruba?

[Cant_wait_for_2008]

22. That and she isnt an 18 year old, "girls gone wild" party girl like

N. Holloway was.

I hope she is found to be OK.

[Poppyseedman]

4. She is white , blond and cute.

All she needs is to be in Aruba to get attention.

[etherealtruth]

12. Sadly she needs parents with $$$$

For some reason poor children (even adorably cute little blonds) don't "count":puke:

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. That's sad

How did she go missing? None of the articles you posted tell that.

[democrank]

6. I`ve not heard a thing here.

Hope she`s found soon.

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Family site re: Destiny and the National Missing & Exploited Children site

http://www.finddestiny.net/

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:
http://tinyurl.com/rtf59

[pitohui]

8. it ain't national news every time some kid goes missing

sorry it just isn't, kids go missing every day, i don't want to sound like i don't care...but...i don't care enough to want the news channel to be nothing but missing kids 24/7

we don't need to be bitching about why is this girl not on teevee, we need to be bitching about why some other girls are


btw, i saw the interview w. elizabeth smart and nancy grace yesterday, damn, was that a case of sociopath versus sociopath or what? not all missing are sympathetic nor are all "journalists" who sell that kind of "news"

[smirkymonkey]

15. Is Elizabeth Smart a sociopath? (Nancy Grace goes without saying)

I really didn't follow her case - I don't really watch television anymore, but your comment piqued my curiousity.

[pitohui]

20. i think she is EOM

.

[LostinVA]

35. Why? i didn't see the interview

[NVMojo]

9. I live in NE Nevada and we get SLC news coverage and this has been

on the TV in this region for a week or more. Heartbreaking and many, many people have banded together to try and find her. And yes, her family is probably lower income and that is sad. Nancy Grace and her ilk just won't give a shit.

[bluestateguy]

11. This has been studied before by sociologists

The very question you raise. What they have found is that the missing children cases that attract the most media attention tend to be when the child is white, from a well to do family, attractive and from a traditional family. It also helps if the family knows how to play the PR game as the Smarts, the Holloways and Ramseys were able to do in their cases. Sadly, it appears that this girl's case could be ignored by all but the local media because she and her family do not meet all of the above criteria.

[helderheid]

14. true - her family has little money and they have roommates. Heartbreaking.

[bluestateguy]

18. reply

If she was black and lived in the ghetto she might not even get local coverage.

[helderheid]

26. I know. THAT REALLY pisses me off. n/t

[dsc]

16. Could it be that we have real news to cover?

The ME is aflame. Our President made an ass of himself. The Congress sentenced terminally ill people to death. What should they have not covered to cover this? I actually hope this is a sign of things to come. Sadly I imagine it isn't. It probably is that these people weren't well connected but one can hope.

[helderheid]

24. I get this. I also get I hate the media diverting from other news to this.

What I don't get is why her and not her? Why her and not her?

Why HER and not her.

If this were my daughter I would be stunned.

[NMMNG]

29. Really now,

The cable news programs will play the same stories ad nauseum. I should think they could throw in the occasional blurb about a missing five year old. One or two minutes added into their lineup wouldn't kill them or their viewers.

[helderheid]

31. Thank you.

[porphyrian]

17. But she's white! There must be some mistake... - n/t

[onecent]

19. THIS IS FUCKING UNFORGIVEABLE! DAMN THE MEDIA

DAMN BUSH...DAMN AMERICA....

IT'S A VERY VERY VERY SAD WORLD WE LIVE IN TODAY.

[bleedingheart]

21. if she was running away from the 45 year old Polygamist Mormon

who was trying to marry her....then it would be on the news...

Otherwise it gets no coverage because she is poor...

[uppityperson]

23. link to LBN topic and sometimes world events overlay 1 personal tragedy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2405442

Sometimes word events overlay 1 personal tragedy.

That said, I hope that they find her soon, and all the other missing children because it has to be really hard for the family and friends to have to go through this.

[kittykitty]

25. Amber Alert?

[uppityperson]

27. Updated, found dead, damn damn damn

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2411376

[madmusic]

28. Oh God.

Why! Why! Why!

[helderheid]

30. I heard last night. I'm really shook up.

Update - Destiny Norton's Body Found - Suspect in Custody
The search for 5-year-old Destiny Norton ended in tragedy as police recovered the little girl's body Monday night. Destiny Norton's body was discovered in the basement of a home just two buildings behind her own home, from which she vanished on July 16.

Police arrested Craig Roger Gregerson, 20, for investigation of criminal homicide. He was being questioned by police and FBI agents overnight and was expected to be booked into the Salt Lake County Jail early today. Investigators found Destiny's body about 8:30 p.m. Monday in the basement of the home at 518 E. Elwood Place.

Police detectives and FBI agents had developed information about Gregerson, who lived alone in the home just two doors behind Destiny's home near 700 South and 500 East. Salt Lake City Police and the FBI refused to release any more information Monday night.
Deseret News

[shadowknows69]

32. When will these monsters finally take their leave of our genepool

I don't believe in it anymore but...No hell is hot enough.

[liberal N proud]

33. No need for a diversion?

Either that or her parents are not connected to the rich and powerful and therefore have no value to the rich who control the airwaves.
That shows how absurd things are in the US today, Class warfare.

[treestar]

34. It is just a matter of timing, probably

Right now the MSM wants us to think Israel, Lebanon. If they wanted us to ignore what was going on there, this poor child would be a 24/7 media event.

[helderheid]

36. Unfortunately it's too late. She was found dead last night.

:cry:

[projectsafekids]

37. Destiny Norton - Case Updates - Photos

Hello.

The entire case , updates and photos as it transpired is posted here on our website.

http://www.projectsafekids.org/utnorton.html

I am Scott from Project Safekids. The National Media did not cover this case hardly at all. There was limited coverage on it last night on Nancy Grace. I am sure however they will be covering it however now that the tragedy has ocurred.

The original blame however in my opinion lies upon the SLC Police Department they canceled the original Amber Alert only 3 Hours after it was issued. Our organization broadcast the Amber Alert heavily on our Amber Alert News Ticker and also XML feed.

The original Amber Alert was canceled as the SLC Police department did not feel it was warranted and did not meet the criteria. In my mind if a (5) year old girl vanishes outside her house , I do not think she should be classified merely as a "Runaway" or "Missing Child" she was clearly abducted. The system has failed this child and the family. Our prayers are with them.

In response to some othe other posts regarding media coverage and her families socio-economic background. I also agree and have found unless the child fits a certain demographic or "look" the coverage tends to be minimal at best.

The entire case , updates and photos as it transpired is posted here on our website.

http://www.projectsafekids.org/utnorton.html

[helderheid]

38. Thank you for posting this. What you do in invaluable and I am so very

grateful to you and your organization. Thanks too for your insight. Sadly, I agree with you and hope things change. This class warfare is so obvious when in the same town we had an abduction of a wealthy Elizabeth Smart - and I am grateful she is alive and well, don't get me wrong - but it is so obvious the difference in coverage of both cases.

Again thank you, and welcome to DU.

[ulysses]

42. god.

[Solly Mack]

43. Thank you for all you do.

I'm angry and sad and everything in between.

[hedgehog]

39. We all really need to be aware of the kids around us and take

responsibilty. Last spring an elderly couple here in Fulton stopped a rape and a woman in Syracuse stopped an abduction because they saw something that wasn't right and they intefered. I never walk past a child standing alone in a mall. I always stand a few feet away and ask "Where's your mommy or daddy?" (It helps that I look like a grandmother myself) Just stopping the child from moving is a big help. Lost kids tend to walk out of the store and even onto another floor; and they're fast. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've had a frantic parent catch up to a kid who has just wandered off.

[Catherine Vincent]

40. :-(

http://www.click2houston.com/news/9571410/detail.html

Police: Missing 5-Year-Old Found Dead In Neighbor's Home

POSTED: 11:00 am CDT July 25, 2006

SALT LAKE CITY -- A missing 5-year-old Utah girl has been found dead.

Destiny Norton's parents said she disappeared from her front porch July 16 after arguing with them about having to go to bed. Her body was found Monday night in the basement of a neighbor man's home -- about 150 feet behind the Norton's home, according to Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank.

Burbank held a news conference Monday night and told reporters, "My condolences go out to the family."

The neighbor, Craig Roger Gregerson, 20, who lived alone in the home, was arrested on suspicion of Destiny's murder, Burbank said.

"No parent should have to endure a tragedy of this nature," Burbank said.

KSL-TV reported that detectives had previously gone door to door in the neighborhood in search of the missing child and that when they interviewed Gregerson inside his home, their police dogs did not pick up Destiny's scent.

[helderheid]

41. The man who did this to her is so frightening:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4093186

" In February, Gregerson asked a 3rd District judge to issue a protective order for him against his wife, Catherine. An order was issued Feb. 23, but was vacated March 7.
In a motion asking the judge to rescind the order, Catherine Gregerson said it was her husband that had recently attacked her, even as she held their infant daughter in her arms.
"An argument followed in which kicked with his feet, knocking her off the bed and onto the floor after which he jumped out of bed and sat on her stomach and began pulling her ears," said the motion opposing the protective order. " jerked her head and turned causing him to let go of her ears, but then petitioner was sitting on her back. He reached in front of her face and struck two fingers into her nostrils."
Catherine Gregerson claimed in the motion she went into another room and picked up her daughter, but that her husband lunged at her and started hitting her on the top of her head with his fists and she held the child.
She described other incidents in which she alleged Gregerson, a clerk for a Radio Shack Service Center at the time, beat her and also attacked her mother. Catherine Gregerson also alleged her husband punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant with their first child, causing her to miscarry. "